Tom Buchanan, who has taught skiing at Okemo Mountain Resort for 13 years, recalls the days when he would show up on the slopes waiting to be assigned to group or individual classes. On those days when he was not assigned, he would be paid only in five- to 15-minute intervals, the time he waited to see if he would be teaching, according to the Londonderry resident.
“So you could conceivably work for 15 minutes in the morning, five minutes in the afternoon, and be sent home with 20 minutes’ pay for a whole day of work,” Buchanan said.
But that changed, according to Buchanan, after three Colorado employees of Vail Resorts filed a federal lawsuit in December 2020. The suit was brought on behalf of all of Vail Resorts’ hourly employees under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, and the laws of states where Vail Resorts operates, including Vermont. The employees in Colorado sought $100 million on behalf of all hourly Vail workers in the United States.
The Colorado suit claimed Vail Resorts does not pay hourly employees for all the hours they work. Ski and snowboard instructors said they were paid for up to seven hours and 15 minutes a day, but typically worked more than nine hours a day when considering time spent on company buses, putting on and taking off uniforms and training. The instructors also claim they are not paid for training time required to get certifications.
In a recent interview, Buchanan noted that the threat of the pending lawsuit seemed to change the way...
The HYDRA Commissioner has clarified that HYDRA will not interfere with houses built in old layouts on ULC (Urban Land Ceiling) lands , nor with unregularised vacant plots in such layouts. He urge...